


Futility

by Cat_Fishy



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Episode: s05e01-04 Wanted, Gen, Pearl-centric (Steven Universe)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-04
Updated: 2019-10-04
Packaged: 2020-11-23 03:43:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20885570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cat_Fishy/pseuds/Cat_Fishy
Summary: While Steven is on Homeworld, Pearl tries to communicate. The one she least expected to understand her is the only one who does. She should have known attempting to circumvent that order is an exercise in futility.





	Futility

**Author's Note:**

> This is something I started over a year ago and forgot about. I wanted to write a Zircon fic and instead ended up finally finishing this. Such is life.
> 
> I typed all this out on my phone, and it feels kinda rushed, but at this point I figured if I don't post it now I never will, so apologies for any formatting issues or if it sounds a little awkward.

Steven was gone. He was gone and alone on Homeworld. (The human didn't count, he knew nothing about Gems and would either be sent to the Zoo or die of dehydration.) She should have said something before he got on that ship, before he gave himself up believing himself responsible for Pink Diamond's murder, as wrong as it was. Reminding herself that she tried to speak up, tried to disobey her last order, wasn't comforting. If anything, it only made her gem ache.

  
“Hey, P, we're all worried sick about him, but you need to relax. Wearing yourself out like this isn't gonna help Steven,” Amethyst said.

  
“But he's--!” _He's Pink Diamond, _she wanted to say. _Rose didn't shatter her, they were the same person! I should have said something, I should have said I did it! Maybe then they would have taken me instead…_

  
Because telling Homeworld that Steven was Pink Diamond might spare him from shattering (and what a messy shattering that would be! If Pearl slept, she would have nightmares about it,) but if they knew that it was her, her who “shattered” Pink, they might not have taken him at all.

  
Amethyst didn't realize why her hand always covered her mouth whenever she tried to speak. Pearl didn't expect her to; she had never met any other Pearls, didn't know how gag orders worked. She had hoped Garnet would figure it out, though, and so she continued fighting that last order from Pink, hoping someone would catch on. If not Ruby, then at least Sapphire might have known other Pearls.

  
Ah, now there was an idea. “Garnet, I have a question. Well, it's more of a question for Sapphire, really. If… if it's okay.”

  
“Hm. Alright.” Garnet didn't unfuse, of course, but she lifted a hand. Right hand, triangular facet. Sapphire's gem.

  
Pearl spoke slowly and deliberately. This was a subject they had avoided in the past, and she hated to bring it up now. “Did you ever have a Pearl?”

  
“Whoa,” Amethyst gasped. “Where did this come from?”

  
Garnet frowned. “She was offered one. Shortly before coming to Earth. Even before fusing with Ruby, the future she saw did not involve her owning one, but she hadn't yet officially rejected the offer. Why do you ask?”

  
So Sapphire wouldn't have much experience with Pearls either. It had been a long shot; even if she did, the odds of one of them trying to break an order were slim at best.

  
She had been silent for too long. Garnet and Amethyst were staring. “Ah, I was just. Wondering if there was someone on Homeworld who might be sympathetic to the Crystal Gems, and by extension, Steven. Out of loyalty to her owner if nothing else.” A flimsy lie; that Pearl, had she existed, would have been confiscated and given to someone else if not destroyed, but she couldn't exactly say her real reason for asking.

  
“Pearl, are you okay? Amethyst is right. Maybe you should take a break.”

  
They knew something was wrong with her, but not _what._ She couldn't give up yet. “No, no, we have to save him. We need a ship! If we can just-!” Pearl's hands cut her off again before she could say _find Pink's leg ship_, so she paused for a moment and then finished with, “fix up Centipeetle's drop ship!”

  
“Weren't you going on about how that thing would never get off the ground again back when we were chasing after P-dot?”

  
“Well. What other options do we have? Last time I tried to build a ship from scratch didn't go well, and it would take decades to fly to the nearest functional Galaxy Warp. The drop ship… Peridot couldn't have fixed it on her own, but now we're working together!”

  
They stared at her for another long moment. Finally, Garnet shrugged. “Worth a shot.”

  
After a quick trip to the barn to pick up Peridot and Lapis, all four Gems warped to the ship. Surprisingly, Lion was already waiting there for them. He headbutted Pearl, grumbling.

  
Pearl wasn't sure how well this pink beast understood what was going on, but maybe he could help. Homeworld was likely far out of portal range, if his exhaustion after taking them to the moon was any indication, but Rose left her sword with him and he knew about the armory. Maybe he could show them where the legs were?

  
“Can you help us save Steven? We need a ship. _Her_ ship,” she whispered.

  
At first, she thought he didn't understand, or maybe was ignoring her, but then he stood up and roared. A portal formed and dissipated, getting the attention of the others.

  
“Wow, P, what did you do to make him mad at you?” Amethyst said.

  
“I asked him if he knew about any other ships on Earth that we could try! Since this one is…”

  
Peridot shouted, “a piece of junk barely fit for the clod monsters who used to fly it!” A screech from behind made her jump, realizing that Centipeetle was looming over her. She mumbled an apology to the corrupted Gem, who seemed to accept it, as she turned and slunk back inside.

  
“That's a rather more rude way of putting it than I would have.”

  
They wouldn't all fit on Lion, not comfortably. Amethyst suggested they all shapeshift. Pearl didn't know how to explain why she never used that particular ability, but she didn't need to, as Lapis and Peridot elected to stay behind. Amethyst shrank herself down anyways.

  
They emerged in a desert. Two tall pink structures rose from the sand which Pearl recognized immediately as the legs.

  
“It’s Pink Diamond’s ship!” Garnet knew it too. “It’s the fastest ship we’ll find on Earth. But we can't fly it.”

  
“What? Why not?” Amethyst asked.

  
Garnet explained what Pearl had been hoping she didn't know. “Only Pink Diamond or her Pearl can fly that thing. We don't know what happened to the Pearl, but if she didn't leave the planet, she's either corrupted or shattered. Let’s go, Gems. We’re better off with the drop ship.”

  
Pearl wanted to scream, wanted to tell them that _she's right here, she can fly it,_ but her hands and the sharp pain in her forehead gem stopped her. Her hands relaxed as she gave in, but the pain remained. A cracked gem? The others didn't seem to notice. Just a hairline fracture, then. She would have to visit the fountain later.


End file.
